Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a regulator targeting fatty acid synthase and method of using the same for improving meat quality.
Description of the Related Art
miRNAs are a group of endogenous non-coding single-stranded RNA molecules containing between 19 and 24 nucleotides. miRNAs are highly conservative and able to form specific complementary base pairs with target mRNAs, which results in decomposition or translation inhibition of the target mRNAs.
With the improvement of sheep breeding, the sheep meat quality is decreased. The meat quality trait is related to the content and the constituent of fatty acids and controlled by minor genes, and requires molecular markers related to the fatty acid synthesis to regulate. Gene of fatty acid synthase (FAS) (gene that encodes FAS) plays a key role in regulating the synthesis of fatty acids. The synthesis rate of fatty acids can be regulated by regulating the expression and the activity of FAS gene, thus affecting the meat quality trait. So, to improve the sheep meat quality, a molecular marker adapted to regulate the expression of FAS gene is required.